The move sparked a strong reaction on Twitter, with some people criticising the "watering down" of the famous whiskey.

But Samuels, the chairman of Maker's Mark, responded saying that all Bourbon brands are cut with water "to achieve the desired proof for bottling". He added: "Maker's Mark has always been made this way and will continue to be made this way."

Samuels said demand for the drink "is continuing to grow at a pace we've never before experienced".

On why the company is not raising the price instead, Samuels said it was to stop the drink being "out of reach". "Dad's intention when he created this brand was to make good-tasting Bourbon accessible and to bring more fans into the fold, not to make it exclusive," he said.

A tasting panel at the distillery agreed there was "no difference in taste" between the new product and the old 45% Maker's Mark, according to Samuels.

He concluded with an appeal to drinkers to "allow us to prove that we didn't screw up your whisky".

Over the last 10 years RTD's as a category may not have grown at anywhere near the level it did between 1998 and 2003 but it has, nevertheless enjoyed steady global growth. This reality flies in the f...